JOHNSTON — Sixth-ranked Panorama ran into a buzzsaw Monday as seventh-rated Dike-New Hartford stunned the Panthers with a 50-15 landslide in the Class 2A Region 7 Final.
Panorama had reached the contest with a 45-33 win over Nodaway Valley. The Panthers, as in a 39-23 win over W-G Wednesday, had to rally late to top the Wolverines Friday.
Against the D-NH (20-2) Wolverines Monday Panorama (22-2) could generate no offensive rhythm at all, leading only 3-2 on an Anna Holloway 3-pointer.
D-NH used a pressing defense to harass Panorama into poor shots and numerous turnovers. The Wolverines had a 13-6 lead after eight minutes, but then began to score from long range and in transition en route to widening their advantage to 29-12 at the intermission.
None could foresee the Panthers being held to only three combined points in the second half, but an excellent Wolverine defense did just that, leading 46-13 entering the fourth frame, in which D-NH scored four points and Panorama two.
Katie Knock had 16 points, Ellie Foster 13 and Morgan Weber 11 to lead D-NH.
Lydia Knapp had five points for Panorama, with Bailey Beckman, Morgan Johnk and Holloway scoring three points apiece while Brooke Halterman had one.
Friday’s game had seen Panorama trail, 20-18, at the break and 30-27 after three frames. Nodaway Valley added just three points in the fourth quarter while Panorama rolled off 18 to post the 45-33 win.
Beckman had 22 points and Johnk 10 for the Panthers.
Only limited statistical information was available for any of the teams from Friday or Monday’s contests.
The loss ends the stellar careers of six Panorama seniors, as Beckman, Johnk, Knapp, Halterman, Vallerie Storesund and Jaelyn Waddle each appeared for the final time. The Panthers reached the state tourney last season and were a combined 84-12 overall (.875) over the past four years.
Beckman leaves as the all-time scoring leader at Panorama with an unofficial 1,579 points, with Johnk scoring an unofficial 854 points while pulling in nearly 550 rebounds.
